Jiao Ziyu had a very bad feeling about this, and this feeling by no means abated as he made his way to the scene. He moved quickly, and yet, he found that he had more than enough time to think about the circumstances that had led him up to this point.

Because yes, on one hand, Jiao Ziyu had come here looking for answers – looking for some semblance of clarity. On the other though, he’d also come here to avoid things – to avoid the current state of things.

Because as far as that other future went, Jiao Ziyu was interested but not necessarily invested. He didn’t feel the need to know every grisly detail, merely enough to navigate the current terrain. Granted, knowing more about the circumstances leading up to his other self’s untimely demise would’ve probably been helpful, if only to provide him with a list of things, places and individuals to avoid in the future to come.

But he hadn’t asked about that, had he? He hadn’t.

To think that, mere hours ago, Jiao Ziyu had thought that the worst thing to happen to him in recent weeks was the rumours and the part played by certain disciples of his when it came to spreading them.

Ah, Jiao Ziyu rather wished that Yu Xiyu could’ve been a bit more like Yi Yixuan, who harboured no such inclinations. Because the latter had heavily implied that she wouldn’t ask about him and Mingyue and that she’d much rather not know. Yixuan had also heavily implied that Xiyu was preparing some type of congratulatory gift for the two of them, and that Yixuan had already put in her veto against three of Xiyu's suggestions as they would undoubtedly have awoken the ire of the sleeping dragon.

The sleeping dragon in this case wasn’t Jiao Ziyu though, because while he was a lot of things, but he didn’t inspire the kind of primal fear response that Mingyue occasionally did.

Some believed that the Peak Lord Bai of any generation inspired a similar response – which wasn’t necessarily true, given that Bai Jixue’s master, Bai Yiling, had allegedly been a rather low-key individual. As for whether this was true or not, Jiao Ziyu honestly didn’t know – he’d never met the woman after all.

He’d met Bai Jixue though. Some seemed to consider Mingyue a far milder and kinder version of the man, but Jiao Ziyu honestly wasn’t so sure. Because they could both be kind if they chose to be, and cold if they chose that – which they had, most of the time. It wasn’t always though. It wasn’t always, and the thought of what Mingyue might do when news reached him was terrifying to say the very least.

“Yue’s been taken.”

Ah. Well, that pretty much confirmed Jiao Ziyu’s private fears and suspicions, falling firmly into the category of Bad, very bad, very bad indeed.

Shoving his own, now pretty minor problems aside, he focused solely on the situation at hand.

There was Youming Jun, evidently furious, displaying his demonic heritage more prominently now – qi surging and his nails looking decidedly sharper than normal. Then there were his eyes, glimmering a bright crimson behind the mask, pupils undoubtedly slit.

Jiao Ziyu should’ve probably been scared, especially so when the other’s positively murderous qi slammed into him. He somehow managed to remain calm though – to an extent. Oh, he was absolutely terrified but less so for what the Demon Prince might just do to him and more so for what Mingyue might do when he found out. But Jiao Ziyu resolutely pushed that thought away for now, taking in the scene before him.

It was a scene of devastation. Where the local clinic and apothecary had once stood, there was a lot of debris. Neither the building nor those surrounding it had collapsed, but the damage was extensive enough so that they still might. Clearly, some sort of altercation had taken place. And as for the outcome of said altercation, well⸺

There was something on the ground; something colourful.

“Don’t touch that,” Youming Jun said, not even looking in his direction.

It was unnecessary though, because as if Jiao Ziyu would ever touch that. This place was awash with demonic energy, and there was something in the air, dispersing just now. “Poison?”

“Butterfly Demon Dust,” Youming Jun responded, his voice slightly muffled through the mask, and as the words registered, Jiao Ziyu was immensely glad that he had put on one as well. Because, one did not want to inhale Butterfly Demon Dust, not even just a little.

As a disciple, Jiao Ziyu had been exposed to it – he and some other disciples. He’d been exposed to a fair amount of it too, which had left him bedbound for almost a month and subject to occasional check-ups by one seriously scary medicinal cultivator.

Granted, for a cultivator in good health, the dust was rarely ever deadly. However, additional exposure to the dust could potentially trigger pretty extreme reactions, and Jiao Ziyu had no real way of knowing if he’d developed an allergy to it or not.

But if that was the case with cultivators, then what was the case with the common folk? Or with demons for that matter, particularly with rare half-human half-demon hybrids? It would be good to know, for reference. For now however, there were far more vital things to address.

“Casualties?”

No civilian casualties would’ve been ideal. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the case. No one was dead though – not yet. There were casualties though – both those who’d inhaled the dust and those who’d been hit or knocked down by flying debris. The really unlucky ones had suffered both, and among them were a few vaguely familiar faces.

Ah, what a mess. What a bloody mess.

Unfortunately, events had now escalated far beyond what Jiao Ziyu might’ve been able to sweep under the rug.

Also, it required a set of skills that Jiao Ziyu himself couldn’t necessarily provide. Because this would undoubtedly require medicinal cultivators, and potentially a whole bunch of them.

Mingyue definitely came to mind, but although skilled, he was over at the Green Jade Peaks, and although Youming Jun could probably get him here quickly, that would’ve meant having telling him and if given the choice in-between taking care of a bunch of commoners or setting off in pursuit, Jiao Ziyu had a fair idea as to which one Mingyue would rather choose.

It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t fair of Jiao Ziyu to make this decision. It wasn’t fair, and Jiao Ziyu was perfectly aware of it.

He quickly composed a message upon a messenger talisman and sent it off, because although Green Jade Peaks was too far away, Jiao Ziyu figured he’d have at least one person close enough to deliver the message for him.

Huilu likely wouldn’t be too happy about it, but Jiao Ziyu would be sure to compensate her handsomely when he got back – if he got back, that is. It wouldn’t solve the situation immediately at hand though, but for now, this was the extent of what he could manage.

“The Lotus Leaf,” Youming Jun said, no doubt exercising a great deal of self-restraint.

He did have a point though – the headquarters of the Lotus Leaf Sect wasn’t that far away and the aforementioned sect did have a fair number of competent medicinal cultivators. The idea was also rife with demerits though. Because the Windward Sect’s relationship with the Lotus Leaf was strained at best and openly hostile at worst. So⸺ “I sincerely doubt they’d be quick to answer a call from a cultivator of the Windward Sect. Also, to my knowledge, they’d almost definitely⸺”

“They’re stuck-up, but rigid when it comes to following doctrine,” Youming Jun said. “Taking care of the ill and injured is a tenet that they honour beside that of slaying ‘evil’.”

Ah. Well⸺ “I still don’t see how that’d get them here in time. Save for you staging another major demonic incident, I don’t see how⸺”

“I could just dump the most critical ones outside of the White Flower Pond, you know?”

Uh⸺ “You mean that you could actually jump that far? Bringing others along?”

Youming Jun snorted. “It’s a stretch, but once I’ve dropped off any additional baggage, I should have enough energy to return here. Making another jump after that might be pushing it a bit too far though.”

Hoh. “Then why haven’t you left already? I thought you’d⸺”

⸺set off in hot pursuit like a reckless fool, given that Little Yue’s safety had to rank pretty damned high on the Demon Prince’s list of priorities – quite possibly even at the very top. Right below it was probably ‘Earning Yue’s approval’ and below that most likely ‘Bullying his elders’ or ‘Being a menace to society in general’.

“There’s no time to waste,” Youming Jun declared. “Find those worst affected and round them up. I’ll be back soon.”

And with those words, he left, leaving Jiao Ziyu to deal with the rest.

Ah. Could this week get any worse?

Actually, yes. It could get way worse. It could get a whole lot worse, as a matter of fact.

Mingyue would kill him. Mingyue would kill him, and if Jiao Ziyu failed, then he would very much let him.